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Runelords 42.0 - Ryuji, Please Help
After returning to the library to report their success to their teammates, it was decided that Virgil and Khyr would teleport to the Undead Nation, hopefully to receive needed aid from Ryuji Komatsu, the known governor of the country and Virgil's apparent uncle. They hoped that he would be able to 'cure' Khyr's curse by transferring it to himself, and to imprison their tow captive mages, whom they were unwilling to execute but whom they couldn't keep in captivity for long and whom were unlikely to be effectively held and tried by local law. The surly, dismissive Luna had little interest in visiting the 'unpleasant' country, and none of Shadliss, Eamon or Alicia felt like it was somewhere that was a safe and welcoming place to visit. Virgil appealed to Quint, requiring his assistance to teleport to the UN. He let his arm be twisted, on the grounds that Khyr was very likely to die which would be a large set-back for the ritual, and that the trip would be no more than a few hours and without complication. Sighing, he went with them out into the hallway, where the two captives, one unconscious, the other not, were stuffed into a Bag of Holding for the duration of the trip. Upon landing as close to Virgil's described coordinates as possible, placing them outside of the grand temple manor that Ryuji administrated from, the group pulled their two prisoners back out before they could suffocate and proceeded to be quickly stopped by some guardsmen. Virgil attempted to explain that he needed to speak with St. Komatsu and that he would be both recognized and appreciated, but the guards were having none of his outlandish, overly-honest explanation. However, they did accept the fact that Khyrralien was indeed very ill and that the two trussed individuals were captive mages whose binds and gags were not to be removed; the guards escorted them to the nearby church infirmary. The attending cleric began to magically investigate Khyr, confirming that it was some sort of very powerful curse that was causing his rapid decline in health. However, they didn't know how to treat it. As Virgil sat in frustration, he literally remembered that he had had the capability to cast Sending for a little while now and had merely forgotten that he indeed knew that spell. He contacted Ryuji, who was on the premises and agreed to come meet him presently. Ryuji Komatsu entered the infirmary with his attendants to much deference. Virgil greeted his uncle with a hug, his appearance only causing a look of mild confusion from the Yetoman, before quickly launching into an explanation. Shaking his head and only partially grasping what was going on, a par-for-the-course reaction to many of Virgil's assertions, he directed them to follow him into the manor proper where they could have privacy. The matter of the two captives was quickly settled and Ryuji took them into custody. Quint made a disapproving comment about what passes for justice among the powerful, and Ryuji explained that those two would be put before the council of the Nation for a hearing which, though an undoubtedly long process, would be nonetheless fair and just. The Nation had a process and precedent for trying international 'criminals', as it was not uncommon for Tinocan police and government officials to swiftly expatriate powerful undead to the Nation, unwilling to process them as individuals but yet equally afraid of potentially executing a Nationalist that would assuredly cause an incident. Some were guilty, others were not, and the matter of the crimes committed by these two accused warmongers would be investigated fully and fairly by the powerful yet ultimately very bored Nationalists. Quint seemed to be satisfied by this. Turning their attentions to the matter of the curse, Ryuji was visibly unsettled by the prospect of there being multiple iterations of the curse that plagued his existence, which he had sworn to protect people from. The only means he knew of was to kill the host and swiftly revive them, transferring the curse; though no one knew if the curse could be moved onto another undead, everyone agreed to try the process. Everyone moved into an empty room that had been quickly prepared as an operating station. They were joined by Shikyo Valeriya, who would be the one to cast the reviving magic. When all was prepared, Ryuji slit Khyr's throat with a stark efficiency, bleeding him dry painlessly in seconds. As the shikyo's magic brought him back from oblivion, Khyr had a vision of freezing, horrible pain leaving his body as a green, skeletal figure made of light. He saw the image meld into a box, the same puzzle box Luna held in her possession, before it faded away as he regained consciousness, a new scar fresh along his neck. His health, and spirits, had returned. Ryuji reported feeling no different as Khyr told them of his vision, and all assembled worried what that might mean. They mused that, perhaps, the curse was now held within the box, a thought that made Khyr visibly angry. Quint began to make pointed statements about leaving, the library of Valparisan knowledge calling to him. With a hurried goodbye and a promise to return later with the potentially cursed box, a slightly recalcitrant Virgil bid his uncle farewell without and further explanation. While the three men were away, Luna had turned her attentions back to the box in question, hoping to finally unlock it. As she fiddled with the locks, the engravings on it suddenly flashed green momentarily, startling her. Zara mentioned that she could sense the curse within it now, the same power that had been gestating in Khyr earlier. Though Zara suggested that she open the box to claim the power for her own, Luna hesitated: until Zara could tell her precisely what the outcome of the 'power' might be, she would wait. There was no hurry and she was currently unwilling to risk what a nebulous necromantic force might manifest in her as; she didn't need to grow spider legs or extra skulls, even if they made her 'stronger'. The three men arrived shortly after, yelling over to Luna to not open the box. She assured them that she hadn't and that it had indeed reacted suddenly not long ago. However, when Khyr demanded in his saccharine, veiled manner that it be given over to him, she refused. Gentle urging from Virgil did nothing; she insisted that it was worth studying, even if she had no intention of opening it, and dismissed Virgil bluntly and coldly. Khyr, obviously brimming with masked rage, waved off Virgil's concerns and walked away smiling. Virgil, quite afraid for Luna at this point, spoke to Eamon about it. Both agreed that it might very well be the influence of Zara: intelligent items often twisted and corrupted their owners, but they had no idea how to go about separating the pair. Eamon wondered if Nisa might be of assistance in this matter; Virgil was hesitant, but walked over with Eamon to speak to her about it. Nisa flipped lazily through books, her attendant standing faithfully nearby as always. She seemed in no great rush, undisturbed by the premise of conversation, but her passive arrogance and derision of them was palpable. When Eamon suggested that maybe she should take back the book that had fallen in Luna's hands, she made an off-handed, indirect comment about killing her for it, which went well over Eamon's head but did not escape Virgil's concerned attention. Nisa only hadn't bothered killing Luna immediately when she had the audacity to steal her property because she was needed for the ritual, which was currently more important than a still-incomplete book. She dismissed offers of just being given the book, as she had no interest in being hunted down by the gluttonous alchemist who had ostensibly been stolen from in turn. However, she agreed to the men's pleas to spare Luna for the time being; again, an incomplete book was not of particular interest to her, for the moment. It would, inevitably, end up back in her hands; everything did. The men walked away from the unconcerned lady with an unsettled feeling, though Eamon felt mostly confident that Nisa wouldn't kill their friend right away. With a mood of heavy tension settling in over much of the group, they sat back to continue studying. The way to the Runeforge was not yet open. Category:Rise of the Runelords